Promoting from within is one of the most effective management styles. As with everything, there needs to be a healthy balance. But bringing in outside talent and fresh blood can be a good thing, too.

Unfortunately, the restaurant business is not promoting well from within. That’s because the entry price is too high for the majority of the management staff, and the path to restaurant franchise ownership looks like a steep staircase.

Many other industries offer a lower entry price. I recently had a discussion with a neighbor’s son, who mentioned that he wanted to open his own car repair garage. He has a passion for Civilian Jeeps. We had the following discussion:

Me: How much money do you need to get started in your home garage and start repairing cars among your network?

Him: $10K!!

Me: Are you able to find that much money?

Him: Yes, my family can loan me the money.

Me: So get started. Your downside is low and the upside can be very high.

How much does it cost to open a base restaurant? As much as $200K+. This is a lot of money that most restaurant general managers do not have. This is where the top of the crop, the more entrepreneurial ones, hit a glass ceiling that is hard to break.

On the other hand, there are many people with savings who do not know where to invest the money. Some dream about an absentee owner business, which does not exist. This is where pairing sweat equity with capital can be a good mix.

I have a concrete situation: The General Manager of one of our top four restaurants located in the Chicagoland area wants to become a franchisee, but is not bankable. Who is interested in investing with him?

In case you want to know more, please contact me through www.buffalowinagsandrings.com, attention Philip Schram, with the topic line “investor”